Radiation-hydrodynamic waves and global solar oscillations

We investigate nonadiabatic hydrodynamic waves in a nongrey, radiating, thermally conducting, homogeneous atmosphere in LTE with a finite mean free path of photons. Avoiding the Eddington approximation the remaining simplifications in the basic equations are discussed, the generalized dispersion relation is analysed, and some wave properties in a grey model are studied. The properties of waves in a stratified atmosphere are analysed as well. In connection with the predicted properties of the nonadiabatic waves we discuss observations ofp-modes by measuring brightness fluctuations.     

Palomar prime-focus infrared camera (PFIRCAM)

In a joint effort between engineers and scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, a near-infrared (0.8–2.6 m) direct imaging system has been developed and integrated into the Caltech Palomar Observatory detector series. The camera system has been tested and operated in a science mode at the prime-focus (f/3.3) of the Hale 5-m Telescope. This paper outlines the system components and performance, including discussion of the detector linearity.     

A model of impulsive loop flares revisited

A critical examination of the components of the recent impulsive loop flare model of Takakura is made. It is found that his analysis of the stability of the electron distribution resulting from anomalous heat conduction is in error and electron plasma waves would not be excited. Rather, in the regions where the electron/proton temperature ratioT _e/T _i 10, electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves would be excited and in the regions whereT _e 10, ion-acoustic waves would be excited. Ratios ofT _e/T _i 10 occur only in the late time development behind the conduction fronts. Since the anomalous resistivity due to electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves is fortuitously about 70% of the one used by Takakura, the general development will follow closely the one calculated by him. Because the anomalous resistivity due to ion-acoustic waves is about 95 times the one used by Takakura, the development in the parts of the loop whereT _e/T _i 10 for late times would be altered considerably.Also Guest Worker at NOAA Space Environment Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

A 256×256 pixel InSb FPA for SIRTF and other astronomical applications

As part of the NASA Space Infrared telescope Facility (SIRTF), a low noise multiplexer has been developed. The hybridization of this multiplexer to a high indium antimonide (InSb) photodiode array has resulted in a MWIR detector of outstanding performance. The multiplexer is made of a 256×256 array of source follower amplifiers on a 30 m square pitch. Random access binary decoders are used to access each pixel of the array, allowing any read-out scheme to be implemented. Dark current has been measured at temperatures ranging from 4K to 77K. Generation recombination currents dominate above 45K. With 100mV of reverse bias applied, less than 3×10^-17 A is typical below 50K with 8×10^-19 A (5 e^-/s) at 4K. Under the same conditions 0.25 pA was measured at 77K. Read noise has been measured as low as 186 e^- using non-correlated techniques. Detector QE is 50 to 80 % through the entire 1 to 5 m band.     

Sub-arcsec 10 μm imaging of β pictoris and other star disk candidates

We have used the ESO 10 m camera, TIMMI, to image with a very high angular resolution (PFoV: 0.3; FWHM:0.9) several main-sequence star disk candidates. Information on the -Pictoris dust disk has been obtained in a region largely inaccessible to previous observations: 0–80 AU, with a resolution of about 5 AU after deconvolution. Another promising target for 10 m imaging, 51 Ophiuchi, appears point-like.based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), La Silla, Chile     

Correlation methods in fingerprint detection studies

This investigation addresses two general issues regarding the role of pattern similarity statistics in greenhouse warming detection studies: normalization, and the relative merits of centered versus uncentered statistics. A pattern correlation statistic is used to search for the greenhouse warming signals predicted by five different models in the observed records of land and ocean surface temperature changes. Two forms of this statistic were computed: R (t), which makes use of nonnormalized data, and (t), which employs point-wise normalized data in order to focus the search on regions where the signal-to-noise ratio is large. While there are no trends in the R (t) time series, the time series of (t) show large positive trends. However, it is not possible to infer from the (t) results that the observed pattern of temperature change is, in fact, becoming increasingly similar to the model-predicted signal. This is because point-wise normalization of the observed and simulated mean change fields by a single common field introduces a common factor effect, which means that the quantities being compared should show some similarity a priori. This does not necessarily make normalization inapplicable, because the detection test involves seeking a trend in the similarity statistic. We show, however, that trends in (t) must arise almost completely from the observed data, and cannot be an indicator of increasing observed data/signal similarity. We also compare the information provided by centered statistics such as R(t) and the uncentered C(t) statistic introduced by Barnett. We show that C(t) may be expressed as the weighted sum of two terms, one proportional to R(t) and the other proportional to the observed spatial mean. For near-surface temperatures, the spatial average term dominates over the R(t) term. In this case the use of C(t) is equivalent to the use of spatial-mean temperature. We conclude that at present, the most informative pattern correlation statistic for detection purposes is R(t), the standard product-moment correlation coefficient between the observed and model fields. Our failure to find meaningful trends in R(t) may be due to the fact that the signal is being obscured by the background noise of natural variability, and/or because of incorrect model signals or sensitivities.     

Biogeochemical cycles of carbon, sulfur, and free oxygen in a microbial mat

Complete budgets for carbon and oxygen have been constructed for cyanobacterial mats dominated by Microcoleus chthonoplastes from the evaporating ponds of a salt works located in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Included in the budget are measured rates of O2 production, sulfate reduction, and elemental exchange across the mat/brine interface, day and night, at various temperatures and times of the year. We infer from this data the various sinks for O2, as well as the sources of carbon for primary production. To summarize, although seasonal variability exists, a major percentage of the O2 produced during the day did not diffuse out of the mat but was used within the mat to oxidize both organic carbon and the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction. At night, most of the O2 that diffused into the mat was used to oxidize sulfide, with O2 respiration of minor importance. During the day, the internal mat processes of sulfate reduction and O2 respiration generated as much or more inorganic carbon (DIC) for primary production as diffusion into the mat. Also, oxygenic photosynthesis was the most important process of carbon fixation, although anoxygenic photosynthesis may have been important at low light levels during some times of the year. At night, the DIC lost from the mat was mostly from sulfate reduction. Elemental fluxes across the mat/brine interface indicated that carbon with an oxidation state of greater than zero was taken up by the mat during the day and liberated from the mat at night. Overall, carbon with an average oxidation state of near zero accumulated in the mat. Both carbon fixation and carbon oxidation rates varied with temperature by a similar amount. These mats are thus closely coupled systems where rapid rates of photosynthesis both require and fuel rapid rates of heterotrophic carbon oxidation.     

The concentration and isotopic composition of carbon in basaltic glasses from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Pacific Ocean

The abundance and 13C/12C ratios of carbon were analyzed in basaltic glass from twenty locations along the Juan de Fuca Ridge using a 3-step combustion/extraction technique. Carbon released during the first two combustion steps at 400-500 degrees C and 600-650 degrees C is interpreted to be secondary, and only the carbon recovered during a final combustion step at approximately 1200 degrees C is thought to be indigenous to the samples. For carbon released at approximately 1200 degrees C, glasses analyzed as 1-2 mm chips contained 23-146 ppm C with delta 13C values of -4.8 to -9.3%, whereas samples crushed to 38-63 microns or 63-90 microns yielded 56-103 ppm C with delta 13C values of -6.1 to -9.2%. The concentrations and isotopic compositions of the primary carbon dissolved in the glasses and present in the vesicles are similar to those previously reported for other ocean-ridge basalts. The Juan de Fuca basaltic magmas were not in equilibrium with respect to carbon when they erupted and quenched on the sea floor. Evidence of disequilibrium includes (1) a large range of carbon contents among glasses collected at similar depths, (2) a highly variable calculated carbon isotopic fractionation between melt and vapor determined by comparing crushed and uncrushed splits of the same sample, and (3) a lack of correlation between vesicle abundance, carbon concentration, and depth of eruption. Variations in carbon concentration and delta 13C ratios along the ridge do not correlate with major element chemistry. The observed relationship between carbon concentrations and delta 13C values may be explained by late-stage, variable degrees of open-system (Rayleigh-like) degassing.     

Molecular and bulk isotopic analyses of organic matter in marls of the Mulhouse Basin (Tertiary, Alsace, France)

Contents of 13C in kerogens and carbonates in 21 samples from a core of the MAX borehole, Mulhouse Evaporite Basin, range from -27.3 to -23.5 and -3.7 to -1.8% vs PDB, respectively. Organic nitrogen in the same samples is enriched in 15N relative to atmospheric N2 by 12.2-15.7%. Hydrogen indices and delta values for kerogens vary systematically with facies, averaging 493 mg HC/g Corg and -25.7% in the most saline facies (dominated by inputs from aquatic sources) and 267 mg HC/g Corg and -23.7% in the least saline facies (50/50 aquatic/terrigenous). Values of delta were measured for individual aliphatic hydrocarbons from three samples representing three different organic facies. For all samples, terrigenous inputs were unusually rich in 13C, the estimated delta value for bulk terrigenous debris, apparently derived partly from CAM plants, being -22.5%. In the most saline facies, isotopic evidence indicates the mixing of 13C-depleted products of photosynthetic bacteria with 13C-enriched products of halotolerant eukaryotic algae. At lower salinities, a change in the producer community is marked by a decrease in the 13C content of algal lipids. The content of 13C in algal lipids increases in the least saline facies, due either to succession of different organisms or to decreased concentrations of dissolved CO2.     

Effects of onshore and offshore topography on sea breeze circulation: An observational study at eastern Attica,Greece

Field measurements of wind, air temperature and humidity were taken at the eastern part of the Attika district in June 1991, to examine the topographic influences exerted on the local sea breezes. These influences are due either to the elongated Evia island, faced by the northern half of Attica coastline some tens of kilometers offshore, or to the coast-parallel range of Hymettos mountain, rising steeply 12 km onshore. The instrumentation consisted mainly of three tethered meteorological balloons released at characteristic sires (i.e., the coast, a location between shoreline and mountain foot and the mountain top) and three autographic ground-based anemometers operating at selected locations. Data from the ground-based and upper air stations of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, as well as the diurnal weather maps were also obtained and analyzed. Observations were made under different synoptic wind and the latter was found to determine remarkably the significance of the topographic effects. A preliminary two-dimensional numerical approach was also made concerning the sea breeze capability to reach the Hymettos mountain top in the case of a weak opposing geostrophic flow.